Tambourine ball game



Jamzu, 1929. 1,700,251l

F. F. CONTOLN TAMBOURINE BALL GAME Filed Feb. 12, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Snom/woz flu MW` Jan. 29, 1929. 1,700,251

, F. F. coNToLlNl TAMBOURINE BALL GAME Filed Feb.12, 1927 2 sheets-sneer 2 Patented `an. 29, 1929.

UNITED STATES FERRUCCIO F. coNToLINI, or UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY.

TAMBOURINE BALL GAME.

Application filed February 12, 1927. Serial N0.. 167,674.

This invention relates to ball gaines, and more particularly refers to devices to be used in playing various'ball games, and its primary object is to provide a tambourine of a novel and improved construction, affording a very firm grip and enablingthereby the player to vigorously strike and return a ball which has been batted into his territory by the opposing player.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tambourine of an improved type, provided with a special reinforcement for the wrist of the player, insuring a free movement of the wrist, and at the same time preventing undue tilting of the tambourine under the effect of the impact of the ball.

A further object is to provide a tambourine of an improved design adapted to be gripped by the hand of the player at a point of its periphery, the construction of which -is slightly unbalanced, being` somewhat heavier at the gripping point so as to produce an excess of weight at said point, tending to counterbalance the effect of the weight of the tambourine beyond and overhanging from said point.

1 Other objects and advantages of the presentinvention will more fully appear as the description proceeds and will be set 'forth andclaimed in the appended claims.

The ball gai'ne'for which the type of tam bourine forming one of the objects of the present invention is more particularly designed is usually played yin a field about 155 r yards long, by about 33yards wide, using fairly solid rubber balls weighing about 2 ounces. Mid-way between the ends of the field a visible dividing line is marked running across the field called the middle foul line. This line divides the batting squad from the remitting squad.

Each of the two teams consists of five men, comprising the batter, left halfback, right halfback, left forward and right forward. r The batter at the remitting side is called the remitter, and each of the opposing squads must not encroach on the opponents terrie tory.

lVhen the game 'is started, the. batter 0 stands on his goal line midway of the field in a designated space largeenough toxallow him to take six or eight steps to bat the 1ballin play. The ball must reach the opponents'territory before touching the ground,tl1e object of the players being to bat the ball beyond their opponents goal line. i

After the first toss has been made and the ball has soared to the remitters territory, they l must bat it in return towards the batting side either while the ball is in the air, or after the first bound only. Their object in so doing is also to bat the ball beyond the goal line of the opponents territory.

Various other rules go to complete the game, but the point which it is' important to note is that in viewofv the length of the field and the weight of the ball, the devices used to bat or to return the ball must of necessity be able to stand a tremendous impact.

For the same reasons the game is a strenuous one also for the players Who must i be able to have full control of their batting strokes, and who must be able to apply all their energy in batting or returning the ball.

It is, therefore, a matter of surpassing im-V portance foi;l the player to be provided with batting devices affording a very firm grip,

having means for'counterbalancing the eff fects .of the weight of their over hanging portion. Furthermore, thev batting devices must be strongly built relatively light weight.

Tambourines consisting of a piece of rawhide tightly stretched over a hollow frame have been heretofore used in playing` this kind of game, the tambourines being circular in shape. The rawhide covering has a very high resistance, and by being tightly drawn about :itsframe it becomes highly resilient, enabling the player to cause the ball to rebound to a great distance; but the types of tambourines heretofore in use did not aord a very firm grip so that frequently the impact of the ball at the receiving end Would cause the player to'loose the grip and to make a faulty delivery of his stroke. This action of the ball was furthermore assisted by the weight of the overhanging portion of the tambourine which tended to increase the strain exerted upon the hand of the player'.

The tambourine forming the object of the present invention represents an improvement over the previousv art, especially in view of the simple and positive means introduced in its construction for insuring a firm grip and yet must be of al of the tambourine by the player. This fea# ture is extremely important, as stated, in a game such as this requiring a great deal ot skill, where the` attention of the player must not be distracted from themain object oi squarely catching and returning the ball coini'ng from a great distance and great height towards him.

The preferred embodiments of my invention are illustrated in the drawings where- Fig. 1, is a rear view in elevation of a. tainbourine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2, is a plan viewrof the saine;

Fig.- 3, is across sectional view in elevation of the same through line S-V-'S of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4, is a fragmentary view in elevation in an enlarged scale of the gripping end of the tambourine; j

Fig. 5, is across sectional View in ,elevation of a tambourine oi a slightly diierent construction j Fig. 6, is a view in perspective of a tamf bourine having an elongated shape, adapted for use at the start of the game, also embodying my invention;

Fig. 7 is an' end view in elevation of thc same, partly broken away;

Fig. 8, is a view inperspective of said tain `bourine illustrating its manner of outwardly proj ectiiig from the hand of the player;

Fig. 9, is a rear view in elevation of a tain- `bourine similar to that shown in Figs..1-3,

illustrating a different construction of gripping of wrist strap.

(11) (12) inserted Referring to said drawings, Figs. 'il-el, illustrating a tambourine of the ordinary round type, in which (l0) designates a round frame which is generally formed of two rings one within the other, made of relatively thin, ilexible, wood in strip form. Over said frame is tightly stretched a piece of rawhide having its edge bent all around the frame, as shown at (13), and

V'forming a resi-lient top (14) for the tam bourine. The rawhide is secured to the frame along its rim portion in any suitable manner, for instance, by means of nails or screws (15). rlhe bent portion of the raw-` hide is, furthermore, surrounded and clamped by another ring (1 6), also made ot a relatively thin strip of wood or other suitable material.

In order to enable the player to lirmly grip the tambourine at a point along its circumference, the inner surface ot the frame is provided at said point with asegmental inward projection (17) which is flush with the bottom edge of the frame and which does not extend the entire depth oit the frame. In practice the Yframe is about 11/2 inches deep, and the thickness ot the segmental projection is about half as much, leaving a elearance space (18) between the top of the projection and the lower surface of the rawhide.

By virtue of this construction, the player is enabled to grip the tambourine by bending his lingers upwardly and then inwardly about the segmental projection and within this clearance space (18), as clearly illustrated in Fig. e. This detail of construction of itself enables the player to counteract to a certain extent the impact of the ball striking the tambourine, due to the tight grip that he can exert on the L sectioned resulting gripping structure, and also owing to the pressure that he exert with the tips of his lingers againstthe upper surface of the segmental projection and against" the inner surface of the frame. The gripping action is furthermore assisted, and a smoother surface provided it both the trame and the segmental projection are covered by a piece of leather such as (19), extending all around the frame and thesegmental projection at the gripping end. Said leather may be set and retained in position by means of nails and screws such as (20), and is furthermore secured at the two ends by metal strips such as' (21), bent in ll fashion' and extending 'upwardly from the bottom of the frame, close to the inner and outer surface thereof.

rlhe positive grip feature described is coinpleted by another important addition in the nature oi' a strap attached at its two ends (23), (24) to the outer surface of the iframe and in correspondence ofthe t'wo ends of the segmental projection. Said strap is attached to the frame in any convenient manner, tor instance, by means of screws (25), (26), with interposed washers (27)', (28).

The length of the strap is greater than the distance separating the two screws in order to allow the intermediate portion of the strap to project outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, leaving a clearance space (29) between the inner surface of the strap and the outer surface oi the frame through 'which the hand of the player may be inserted. rlhe strap is preferably made of a good grade of leather possessing great flexibility and strength, and the length oi. its overhanging portion is pret erably made adjustable in order to accommodate hands of different size.

When the hand of the player is inserted between the strap and the irame and is made to grip the trame and the Vsegmental projection as shown in Fig. Ll, the strap follows the movement ot the back oi the hand aga-inst which it rests, and will remain with its two leg portions downwardly directed, and its 4 normallyv'provided"by' the strap provides ample room for the free insertion or removal of the hand zit/'any time.

l This is due to the fact that `when the strap extends outwardly from its points of attachnient, the clearance space provided for the insertionV of the hand has a width practically equivalent to the length of the lees of the strap while when the strap is forced downwardly -to the position shown in Fig. 4, this `clearance space becomes much narrower,

being decreased by the distance separating the points of attachment of the strap from the underside of the frame.

In order to facilitate the movements of the strap from its hand receiving to its hand retaining position, I prefer to leave the screw connections (25), (26) a littlebit loose, per initting washers (27), (28) to revolve about said screws. In this manner the strap becomes attached to the frame by means of pivf otal connections which allow free swinging movement of the ends of the strap about the attaching points. This greatly adds to the flexibility of the structure and enables the strap to adapt itself to every curve and irregularity of the players hand.Y

The adjustable feature may be had by providing one or both ends of the strap with a plurality of openings such as (30) which may vbe selectively used. for the insertion of screws (25), (Q6). Another manner of making the strap'adjustable is illustrated in Fig. 9, where 3l) designates the tambourine frame and (3;) designates the strap composed of two members (33) and (34) having their ends overlapping and joined by an adjustable buckle connection of the ordinary type. Although this type of strap may be used at times when light games are played, the type of strap previously described is much to be preferred because it offers a smooth surface of the-strap contacting` vwith the hand. The inner surface of the strap shown in Fig. 9 has some sharp edges and projections due to the insertion of the buckle and is apt to hurt if used'when heavy games are played. 1

As stated, the rawhide placed on top of the frame must be heavy and strong in order to be Vable to stand 'the impact of the ball.v On the other hand, when the game is started, the ball is merely thrown in the air by the batter and is sent into the opponents field with all the might of which the batter is capable. The impact in this case. however, is much less than during the game when the batter has not only to return the ball as far as he can, but in doing so he has to overcome the tremendous impact with which the ball strikes the tambourine. batting is dependent upon the strength and skill of the player, but is alsoto al great extent dependent upon the rebounding' qualities of the rawhide covering of the tambourine, so

The range of the' that in practice it has 'been found that a quali-1 ties in returning the ball is not very respon- `I tambourine having high rebounding sive when used for the initial tossing.

Therefore, it 'has been found that a great improvement will be had if the first delivery of the ball is made by means of a tambourine I having a greater thannormal resiliency suflicient to respond to the comparatively light impact of a ball falling from but a short height.

A greater resiliency is obtained by using a comparatively light rawhide for the tambourine to be used for the initial tossing, and this is permissible due to the fact that the stress upon the tambourine at that time is, muchless than the stress experienced when a ball is returned during the course of the gaine. I have also found that the initial tossing can be performed in a much better way by using a tambourine having an elongated 1 or pear shape, such as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8.

The wider portion (36) of this tambourine increase the resiliency of the device, so thatl all in all a much more responsive tambourine is thus produced, adapted to improve the delivery of the ball when the game starts.

It is important that the tossing' tambourine extend laterally rather than forwardly of the player when held in the players hand if the advantage afforded by its elongated shape is to be fully realized; therefore, T prefer to form the gripping portion of'tliistanr bourine somewhat to one side of its central line, that is normally at the right side if the tambourine is to be used by a right hander player. A firm grip is provided also in this case by an arrangement similar to that previously described comprising a segmental projection (not shown) at the inner side of the frame and a strap such as (38) attached to the outer side of the frame and leaving a clearance space (39) between theinner surface of said strap and the surface of said frame through which the hand of the player may be inserted and retained. The strap is preferably attached as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 with its inner end (a0) directly in line with the longitudinal axis of the Vtambourine and its outer end (4:1) spaced therefrom to the right at one side of the tambourine, said two ends being secured to the frame -as in the previous case by means of screws (42)(43) and loose washers (44)-(45) permitting free swinging movements of the strap about the screws.

In Fig. 8, I illustrate the manner of holding the tambourine showing how the lateral end grip enables the player to conveniently hold the tambourine in a laterally extending position ready tocatch the ball tossed to his right.

The increased resiliency of this type of tambourine is obtained as stated both by virtue of its elongated shape increasing the giving properties of its rawhide top, and by using rawhide of a comparatively light weight, sufciently strong, however, to stand the impact in batting the ball into the opponents territory.` i

Once the first toss is made, the player quicio ly changes the tambourine to a normal one, being assisted in this by an assistant in the field, and then the game proceeds usual until a new game is started.

In Fig. 5, I illustrate the possibility of e:'- tending the inner segmental projection all around so that instead of having a projection the tambourine becomes formed with a rim (46) extending all around. This type of construction is not generally required, but the same may be adopted at times when an extremely light construction of frame is used and it becomes necessary to re-inforcc it. In these cases, however, the weight balancing advantages of the segmental projection previously described will be lost.

From the foregoing it is seen that the invention extends both to a` combination of tambourines of different shapes to be used at different stages of the ball game, and to a special construction of the tambourines themselves. The various details of construction of the tambourines may vary to a certain extent from those shown without departing from the inventive idea; for instance, while a rawhide top is to be preferred in all cases for lighter games, an open mesh striking surface such as currently used in tennis rackets could be used if desired, since the gripping feature may be applied in connection with batting devices used in various gaines of this character. Therefore I reserve myself the right to carry my invention into practice in all those ways and manners which may enter fairly into the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In adevice of the class described, the combination with an open frame and a strik ing wall extending across the same, of a mein ber inwardly projecting from the lower part of said frame, leaving a clearance space between the upper surface of said member and the lower surface of said wall sufficient to accommodate the end portion of the fingers of a hand gripping said frame.

2. In a device of the class described, theV combination with an open frame and a striking wall extending across the same, of a segmental. member inwardly projecting from the lower part of said frame, leaving a clearance space between the upper surface of said member and the lower surface of said wall suiicient to accommodate the end portion of the fingers of a hand gripping said frame.

3. In a device of the class described the combination with an open frame and a striking wall extending across the same, of a strap having its ends attached to the periphery of said frame normally extending outwardly therefrom leaving a clearance space sufficient to receive the hand of the player inserted therethrough. Y

e. In a device of the class 'described the combination with an open frame and a striking wad extending across the same, of a strap having an adjustable length and having its ends attached to the periphery of said frame normally extending outwardly therefrom, leaving a clearance space suiiicient to receive the hand of the player inserted therethrough.

5. In a device of the class described the combination with an open frame and a striking wall extending across the same, of a flexible strap having its ends pivotally attached to the periphery of said frame normally eX- tending outwardly therefrom, leaving a clearance space sufficient to receive the hand of the player inserted therethrough.

G. In a device of the class described the combination with an open frame and a striking wall extending across the same, of a flexible strap having perforations at each end and a screw adapted to be inserted through one of said perforations at each end in order to secure said strap to said frame .at the periphery thereof, so as to normally extend outwardly therefrom forming a loose connection permitting free movements of said strap ends about said screws.

7. In a device of the class described the combination with an open frame and a striking wall extending across the same, of a flexible strap having perforations at each end and a screw adapted to be inserted through one of said perforations at each end in order to adjustably secure said strap to said frame at the periphery thereof, so as to normally extend outwardly therefrom forming a loose connection permitting free movements of said strap ends about said screws.

8. In a device of the class described the combination with an open frame and a striking wall extending across the saine, of a segmental member inwardly projecting from the lower part of said frame leaving a clearance space between the upper surface of said member and the lower surface of said wall sufficient to accommodate the end portion of the fingers of a hand gripping said frame and a Cil hand retaining member adapted to form a clearance space underneath said frame in correspondence of said segmental member suiicient to receive the hand of the player inserted therethrough.

9. In a device of the class described the combination with an open frame and a striking wall extending across the same, of a segmental member inwardly projecting from the lower part of said frame leaving a clearance space between the upper surface of said member and the lower surface oi' said wall suflicient to accommodate the end portion oi' the lingers of a hand gripping said frame and a Hexible strap having its two ends attached to the outer side of said frame in correspondence of said segmental member, leaving a clearance space between said strap and said frame sufficient to receive the hand ol the player' inserted therethrough.

10. In a device of the class described the combination with an open frame and a striking wall extending across the same, of a segmental member inwardly projecting from the lower part of said frame leaving a clearance space between the upper surface of said member and the lower surface of said wall suflicient to accommodate the end portion of the lingers of a hand gripping said frame, a flexible strap having perforations at each end and a screw adapted to be inserted through one of said perforations at eachl end in order to adjustably secure said strap onto the side of said frame in correspondence of said segmental member forming a loose connection permitting free movements of said strap ends about said screws.

1l. A device of the class described, comprising an open frame, a resilient rawhide wall extending across said frame, a segmental member inwardly projecting from the lower part of said iframe and leaving a clearance space between the upper surface of said member and the lower surface of said wall suHcient to accommodate the end portion of the fingers of a hand gripping said frame, and a flexible leather strap pivotally attached to the outer side of said frame in correspondence of said segmental member.

12. A device of the class described, com-` prising a pear shaped open frame, a resilient striking wall extending across said frame, and meansA :tor gripping said frame attached to the periphery ot' said trame, laterally of the axis thereof, at the narrow end of said frame.

13. A device of the class described, comprising a pear shaped open frame, a resilient striking wall extending across said frame, a segnfental member inwardly projecting from the lower part of said frame extending to one side oi the center portion of the narrow end of said frame, and a flexible leather strap attached to the outer surface of said frame in correspondence ot said segmental member, providing a clearance space through `which the hand of the player can be inserted to grip said frame.

rEnnUooIo F. ooNToLINI. 

